Some self-propelled cotton harvesters eject cotton burrs and trash from each side of the harvester and are equipped with liquid cooled engines having air cooled radiators operatively associated therewith for cooling the engine cooling liquid and such radiators each are usually mounted in close proximity to at least one side area of the corresponding harvester from which burrs and trash are ejected. This ejected material includes a considerable amount of small wisps of cotton lint originating in the burr extractor of the harvester and various forms of air borne trash and cotton lint discharged adjacent the radiator tend to quickly clog the radiator and thus reduce the liquid coolant capacity thereof.
In an attempt to deal with this problem the cotton harvester's radiator is conventionally equipped with a "squirrel cage" in the form of a rotary screen driven by an internal fan which is in turn driven by the air current generated by the radiator fan of the associated combustion engine. The rotary screen lightly contacts a stationary brush intended to wipe the screen clean. However, the wisps of cotton encountered are small enough so that a large quantity thereof passes through the rotary screen to the radiator face. In addition, the rotary screen/brush action causes some attached lint and trash to be "ground up" so that it also passes through the rotary screen to the radiator face. This causes the radiator of the engine to be blocked after only a few hours of operation causing engine overheating. Accordingly, in order to prevent engine overheating frequent removal of the "squirrel cage" and cleaning of the radiator is required.
Therefore, a need exists for structure by which the cooling air for the engine coolant radiator of a cotton harvester or the like may be effectively cleaned before passing through the radiator.
Various forms of air cleaning structures including some which are operatively associated with radiators and include some of the general structural and operational features of the instant invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 874,962, 1,751,739, 2,376,546, 2,455,734, 2,730,084, 2,754,809, 2,785,620, 2,896,594, 3,226,918 and 3,844,202.